There’s no doubting that Nico Rosberg fully deserved his eighth win of the year in Singapore on Sunday.
On a weekend that was dominated by questions over whether Mercedes had cured their issues of 2015 in the build up, the German led every session from second practice and was untouched in qualifying, taking pole by half a second.
Yet despite leading all bar a handful of the 61 laps on Sunday, Rosberg will head home knowing it was a win that almost got away.
It has been a key feature of the last three races, all of which Nico has won, as drivers were limited on pace due to the tyres. Of course, it has been the story with most races in Formula One in the Pirelli era but with aggressive tyre allocations at Spa, Monza and Marina Bay, it has been more noticeable.
Perhaps it is why Rosberg was so strong in those races. Known as a driver who races in the same vein as Alain Prost, when strategy and optimisation are required, he is one of the best on the grid.
It was a similar story for 45 laps in Singapore. He got the good start which was essential to executing his race plan and, despite managing brake wear for seemingly the entire race, was able to pull out a five-second gap to Daniel Ricciardo behind him.
With everyone doing the same thing, there was no threat to Rosberg and he was enjoying a stroll (albeit a rather hot one) around the streets of Marina Bay.
He was also much faster than teammate Lewis Hamilton, who seemed shocked at the pace his title rival was able to maintain while running the exact same strategy.
This also highlighted the difference between the racer, Hamilton, and the assessor, Rosberg.
But when Hamilton converted the race into an actual race, ie. trying to go as fast as you can, that was when it was his teammate’s turn to get a nasty shock.
Bored of going slowly, and trailing Kimi Raikkonen in fourth, the world champion wanted to go on the attack and did so with a third pit stop for fresh rubber.
Now the need for tyre saving was gone, brakes, well so what, and he put in a fantastic out lap to achieve the undercut on the Ferrari and reclaim the podium place.
Arguably it was another strategy miscalculation by the Scuderia, to bring the Finn in, but Raikkonen’s stop would then allow Ricciardo to make the same move, letting the Australian drive flat out.
Rosberg’s goose looked cooked, as traffic meant he was unable to make a third tyre change, especially when the Red Bull driver started setting times two-and-a-half seconds per lap quicker.
It was the tortoise vs. the hare, something we don’t see enough of in F1 nowadays, and it turned up the heat even further in what had been a slow burner of a race up til that point.
Traffic and the frustrating inability of a tyre, that was supposed to be good for 23-25 laps, to be pushed hard for more than 10 meant Rosberg just had enough as the tortoise eventually prevailed.
What we did learn in Singapore, however, is how the engineer’s book that tells you slower is actually faster, is actually the problem that blights the F1 show.
The drivers want to push hard, want to go wheel-to-wheel, but in a sport that has become a battle of the engineers, those in the cockpit are told off if they dare go into a higher engine mode or put a little more stress through the brake discs.
It was the hope most had with the introduction of radio restrictions, that were ultimately dropped back in July. Putting more of the decisions into the hands of the drivers would see them push harder and maybe create a few more situations akin to what we saw in Singapore.
Sadly, the drivers were so well drilled by their engineer corporals before leaving the garage, it became more of a memory game as opposed to drivers thinking on their wits.
It was the driver, Lewis Hamilton in this case, who took control over his race in Singapore. Allowed to do what he does best, it sparked a spectacle and a feeling of genuine expectation that has not been felt during a race in quite some time.
Of course, it won’t start a trend of more aggressive strategies going forward, the men with the tablet (because clipboards are so 2006) simply won’t allow it.
But F1’s new owners got a glimpse of the action the sport can deliver. If a way can be found to replicate that on a much more regular basis, that is when more fans will tune in and someone other than Nico Rosberg will stand on the top step of the podium.
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